CAMARILLO : City to Pay for Mall Developer’s Report

As a sign of its enthusiasm for a proposed retail outlet mall, the Camarillo City Council has approved spending $38,000 to produce an environmental report for the project’s developer.

Developers usually hire independent consultants or reimburse city planners for their work on environmental reports.

But the council decided not to charge developer Koll Leonard for the city staff’s work in producing a report on the mall proposed for the south side of the Ventura Freeway near Las Posas Road.

Camarillo officials have estimated that the Koll Leonard mall could generate $1 million a year in sales tax revenues for city coffers.

“The project has significant benefits for the city,” Councilman David M. Smith said. “I thought this was one way we could help to bring the project to town.”

Earlier this year, the Camarillo council approved the Koll Leonard mall without an environmental report on the project.

At the time, city officials also gave the developer a lucrative incentive for building the mall: the promise to refund to Koll Leonard up to half of the annual sales taxes generated by the project.

But a Ventura County Superior Court judge ruled that agreement illegal, saying it constituted a gift of public funds. The judge also required the city to obtain an environmental report on the project before officially approving the mall.

Smith said he expects the environmental report to be complete by the end of November.